#icymi: Happy #NationalSTEMDay. Here our Science Manager Andy Estep is collecting fish catch data with our apprentices for the Experimental Fish Trap Program on the island on Montserrat. In partnership with the Sustainable Fisheries Group, this program works with young Montserratians to provide #STEM experience in data collection and sustainable fishing. The experiment is testing sustainable fish traps that have biodegradable exits and escape gaps for smaller fish. We are running the experiment to see if the traps prevent the catch of unwanted fish, allowing them to continue to grow and reproduce - which we predict will lead to bigger fish catches in the future and a healthier marine environment. #Oceanoptimism#Montserrat#STEMmatters@boneman1984@_that_kid_keinan_

A shot from our friend Brian Skerry, who you can see featured on our Facebook pages as well as the Waitt Foundation #YouTube page. Photo by @BrianSkerry. Via #Repost Portrait of a Unicorn Fish, a type of surgeonfish, in the waters off Millennium Atoll in the Southern Line Islands. Scientists on a National Geographic expedition to these remote Islands discovered a predator-heavy biomass in the reef ecosystems, with a coral cover of up to 100% in most locations. Though currently healthy, the ecosystem must maintain every living creature as a means of surviving. Herbivores like these surgeonfish graze on algae, keeping it from overgrowing the coral. Like a finely-made watch, each piece of the ecosystem works in harmony with all other components. When certain species are removed, the entire system breaks down.

Here’s a clip from a short film done in-house by @shaynabrody. Shayna was able to sit down with @NatGeo photographer @brianskerry and get his impressions on the changes he’s seen in the oceans during his lifetime. Catch the the entire film at a Waitt Facebook page near you. Photography by @thejoelepore and others who’ve participated in #waittexpedition s.

#Icymi from @waittinstitute ・・・ Ghost fishing doesn't just happen on Halloween, nets and gear continue to kill fish well after they are lost, stealing revenue from fishers and removing fish from our oceans.

Through Blue Halo Montserrat and with our partners the Sustainable Fisheries Group we are working on the Experimental Fish Trap Program, a year long experiment to test new biodegradable fish traps that help prevent ghost fishing and with 1 inch escape gaps to prevent small fish from being caught. Photo from @oceana video “Ghost year is haunting the oceans”#BlueProsperity#FishSmarter

Another fantastic shot from our friend @manusanfelix_official. Scenes like this should be much more common when we enter our oceans, sadly they are all too rare. ・・・ This is how it looks the amazing Mediterranean posidonia seagrass meadows. When you look inside like this photo you realize that is more than a praire, is an underwater forest where many species live. Sponges, starfish, briozoos, fishes... I love to dive in the posidonia during autumn when they look wonderful. #formentera#mediterranean#mediterraneo#posidonia@vellmari_divingcenter#baleares via #Repost

Yep, this pic is real. Taken by our friend #@ralphpace via #repost. ・・・ Sharknado: one of the most beautiful moments I’ve ever seen. 4 species of sharks, bottlenose dolphins, yellowfin tuna, rainbow runners all line up to feast.